We have some tips on how to provide a great answer in the TLC forums. While this may seem like a topic almost too obvious to bring up, this blog post will cover everything related to finding and providing answers in the forums, such as searching for existing answers, marking replies as an accepted solution, and writing better answers.
A Few Basics
- Understand the Question
Before writing a reply to a post you want to make sure you understand the question. The best answers will ask for clarification about anything unclear in the original post and also clearly state any assumptions you make in your answer.
- Know Your Audience
There are users of all experience levels in the forums, from first-timers to power users, so it’s important to avoid assumptions about what a user knows or doesn't know. Often, even though the answer is clear to you, it is not evident to the poster, so don't skip any intermediate steps in your solution. Of course, sometimes it's clear from the question that it's from an advanced user, in which case you can jump right to your solution.
- Anticipate Follow-Up Questions
The best solutions go beyond just giving an "answer" by explaining how and why you arrived at your solution and why alternatives were not chosen. For bonus points, mention the pros and cons of your approach to give the poster a better idea if your solution is right for them. Thorough replies like this are especially helpful to future users who have the same question.
Some Good Examples
Say a customer’s complaint is about data being "scattered about" Google Analytics because the value set in the utm_medium can be camel cased, lower cased, or even upper cased. You may consider suggesting they use Tealium iQ Tag Management's Lower Casing Extension. Better yet, explain a little further that using the Lower Casing Extension would help to force normalization of the data, therefore saving time and resources.
Another good example can be found here in the Tealium iQ Tag Management forum. You’ll notice that a good conversation starts and more details emerge, then a working answer is submitted and marked as a solution.
Marking an Answer as a Solution
One of the best features in the community forums is the ability to mark an answer as a solution. Marking a reply as an accepted solution to your question is a great way to close the loop on your question and finalize the discussion. This is a signal to other users that you're no longer expecting replies. Also, as a replier, nothing feels better than having your answer marked as an accepted solution. Plus, when the next user finds your thread, they can quickly jump to the accepted solution without having to read the entire thread.
You can even mark your own answer as a solution if you end up working out your own fix. Again, this also helps future users that encounter the same issue.
To accept a reply as a solution, simply click the three dots on the top of the post that you want to mark, then select Mark as Accepted Solution.
Duplicate Questions
Prior to posting a new question, we always recommend doing a quick search for your issue in case it’s already been asked. The same goes for answering. If you see a new question that's a duplicate of a previously answered thread, reply with a link to that accepted solution instead of rewriting it. Many of our top users and Tealium employees bookmark common answers so that they can quickly reference content when posting.
Any Questions for Us?
We hope this TLC Tip will come in handy for you! If you have any questions or feedback about this post or anything community related, please let us know. We are here to help and are usually quick to respond. Post your community related question in the General discussion forum, or email community@tealium.com.
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